Comments on: An Office Diwali Celebration

By: Gori Girl

Gori Girl — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 02:02:11 +0000

Anamika, I was taught how wrap a sari by my husband’s mother (and got a few extra tips from the Indian coworker pictured above). I would recommend learning that way if at all possible, as it can be difficult to show exactly what to do via pictures or a video. Have a friend or family member who knows how to wrap a sari come over, and then do it yourself, several times in a row. Doing it yourself will lock it better in your memory, as well as repeating it several times.

By: Anamika

Anamika — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 20:15:55 +0000

wow .. u draped the saree on ur own ..
i feel ashamed now
i am a desi, spent my first 25 years in India and still don’t know how to drape one …
back there, i never felt the need for one since i loved jeans and tees and salwars and kurtas and kurtis …
but here i feel there r so many desi get togethers and the dress code sometimes is a saree and i have to get my frnds help ..

how did u learn to wear saree?
any tips? youtube videos or even a blog post?
there r some youtube videos .. i tried to learn using those videos .. not much help ..

Please
Please
can u help me

By: JC

JC — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 17:34:58 +0000

Hi Gori Girl, love this website, I am down in Virginia Beach, not too far, and love different cultures. Found your website from another. I have been watching those wonderful Bollywood movies for over a year now, must have seen over 50 or so and own about 30, I am so addicted. I have one co-worker from the south of India, (Kerala) unfortunately the only Indian that I know. Every time I meet someone in a store I am asking them Hindi questions and they are very surprised. LOL, I just love it. Will be reading this blog for a while to catch up, great work.

By: amreekandesi

amreekandesi — Sat, 24 Oct 2009 06:57:32 +0000

Nice! That sure is the Diwali spirit!

A few years back i cooked up a bowl full of kheer for Diwali and took to my office back in Connecticut. My colleagues were all quite excited about the rice pudding, as they called it.

By: akroyal

akroyal — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 22:25:35 +0000

GG ,thanks for you reply and I understand where you are coming from when you used the term ’south indian manager’.

Personally, its seemed a little bit odd for me when you mentioned’’south indian manager”, i prefer to be called Indian ,but you can call what ever you feel appropriate because i understand your intentions are not negative. I really appreciate the effort you made into blending with your indian family and culture..May you should consider a Indian/duel citizenship:)

By: Lurker Frequente

Lurker Frequente — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 19:26:59 +0000

Nice Sari, gorigirl. And you look different in ALL your photos…from ur wedding to here!

By: Gori Girl

Gori Girl — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 17:31:17 +0000

The effort is always appreciated in India or Indian groups, at least according to my own experiences and those I’ve read about. I can’t count the number of times I was complemented on wearing a sari while in India – or a salwar kameez, for that matter. Oh, and wrapping a sari (and wearing one) isn’t really isn’t that hard – I think people talk it up as more difficult than it is! More difficult than just throwing on jeans & a t-shirt, certainly, but not that hard.

By: Steph

Steph — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 08:20:30 +0000

Saris are gorgeous. I would love to try one on, learn how to wrap one. I have always wondered what people would think of a Western woman in a sari – I mean, obvious in London it would look out of place, but the appreciate the effort in India by the sounds of it?

By: mylifeinbrown

mylifeinbrown — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 23:49:33 +0000

Yup, agree with GG. I think my mom has three or four petticoats, and I will not speak about the scads of saris she has. And yes, hers are “off” colors like blue or green cotton–whatever was cheapest (I think she made them herself, long ago). But, then again, she also doesn’t have any sheer saris (“it’s a ‘girl’s’ trend,” according to her). BTW, I am a “girl” and I am almost 31. So.

By: Southern Masala

Southern Masala — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 20:35:48 +0000

Happy Diwali! You guys look great in your saris! I love to wear sari, which is not too common in Pakistan, but my MIL is East African Indian (ethnically Gujarati), she wears sari everyday. Out of respect for her, and because I liked it, I wore sari for my wedding reception in Karachi, which is relatively rare. Most people there wear gharara or sharara. I have 5-6 saris with matching blouses and petticoats, unfortunately I do not get to wear much because we don’t have any desi friends or go to desi events here in Dallas.

Gajar ka halwa is one of my fave desserts! Yum!

By: D

Wed, 21 Oct 2009 17:39:55 +0000

I also have 6 or 7 saris, a petticoat and a blouse to match each, plus a spare black petticoat (most of my saris are dark colors). I only have 1 sari that’s sheer material. The rest are regular silk ones, which really don’t need matching petticoats, although it’s nice to have them.

I ended up with so many of everything because G’s grandmother passed away last year and she had so many saris — some of which she had never even worn. My MIL had taken a few of them and then decided it was too much of a pain to have the blouses let out, so she gave them to me because they’re close to my size.

BTW, I love Fab India. I wish it wasn’t so expensive to buy online from them — the markup from the actual store prices is ridiculous!

By: Jenn23

Jenn23 — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 17:15:52 +0000

GG, I don’t have any sarees (will get those in India), but I’m just wearing a salwar kameez (what D had mentioned) that I bought last week. The “special occasion” is that I’m leaving for India in 2 weeks for our wedding and my co-workers/friends want to see my dressed in traditional Indian clothing. I was going to wear it on Friday but it was just so miserable out (rain/cold) as you mentioned-you were much braver! I’ll wear it soon. Good luck with the Hindi!

By: D. Jain

D. Jain — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 16:10:22 +0000

Hmm, ok. I’ve got 6 saris, each with matching petticoats and blouses. All of mine are sheer material, so I think a white petticoat would shine through–”it’s snowing down south!”

You’re going to have fun on your next trip if you have time to have some things made! CTC Plaza has an excellent selection of saris.

By: Gori Girl

Gori Girl — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 15:02:17 +0000

I have 6 or 7 saris, 4 petticoats, and only 3 “regular” blouses – mainly because I was given saris as wedding gifts, but did not have time in India to have matching blouses made (instead I purchased short kurtas from Fab India that matched).

I don’t think you need petticoats to match each sari – after all, if you’re wrapping it correctly, the petticoat should never be seen. Maa uses a plain white petticoat most days, I believe, whatever sari she’s wearing. I have a plain white one, two that match my wedding & reception saris, and one blue one, as I seem to gather a lot of blue saris.

By: D. Jain

D. Jain — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 14:03:48 +0000

Mmm, chana bhature!

Don’t most women have a petticoat to match each sari? Each one of my saris has a petticoat in a matching color. Maybe that’s because most of mine are more sheer material though?